After its creation on May 14, 1948 the State of Israel was in desperate need of funds in order to build the new country. In February 1950, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion held a meeting at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem with 50 American and Israeli leaders where he shared his idea on how Israel can generate much needed funds and engage Jews world wide in the building of the Jewish homeland. That idea was the Israel Bond which was launched at a rally at Madison Square Gardens on May 10, 1951 in the presence of Ben Gurion. This is the program for that event which also celebrated Israel’s third birthday.
From the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, Toronto (www.herzlcollection.com). Photograph by David Matlow.
When Ben Gurion arrived in New York the day before the rally (which was officially declared by Mayor Vincent Impellitteri as “Ben Gurion Day” as part of “Israel Bonds Week”) he was paraded through the streets accompanied by several marching bands and 2,000 American soldiers in full battle array. The parade route included Broadway and the Garment District where he was showered with paper and pieces of cloth. Police estimated that more than one million people lined the parade route and an additional 100,000 people attended a special welcome ceremony at City Hall. See newsreel footage of the parade here:
On the morning of the rally he travelled to the United States Military Academy at West Point to lay a wreath on the grave of Col. David (Mickey) Marcus, an American who was instrumental in the organization of the Israel Defence Forces and who was tragically killed in the War of Independence.
While in New York, Ben Gurion shared that in the State’s first three years, the country had absorbed 600,000 immigrants which was funded through high taxes imposed on its citizens and loans advanced by several countries including the United States. The objective of the first bond drive was to raise US$500 million to absorb another 600,000 immigrants over the next three years and to position Israel “to breath the free air of economic independence”.
At a fundraising dinner held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Ben Gurion said “We are trying to fashion an exemplary nation in our resurgent homeland: a nation which will not shame the heritage of our Prophets and the teachings throughout the ages. We have still much to learn and much to accomplish but we feel we are on the road to success.”
That road is a long one, and let us all continue travelling it together.
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For more treasures from the Herzl and Zionism Collection of David Matlow, which has appeared weekly in the Treasure Trove column in the Canadian Jewish News (www.thecjn.ca) since February 2021, see https://herzlcollection.com/treasure-trove
Treasure Trove is a program of The Herzl Project.
David Matlow practices law at Goodmans LLP in Toronto. He owns the world’s largest collection of Theodor Herzl memorabilia and his Herzl Project is designed to inform people about Herzl’s work to inspire them to work to complete Herzl’s dream. He is the Chairman of the of the Ontario Jewish Archives and past chair of Toronto’s annual UJA Campaign and Jewish Foundation. More information about the Herzl Project is available at www.herzlcollection.com Over 200 items from David’s collection were exhibited at the Bernard Museum at Temple Emanu-El in New York City from September 17, 2024 to January 24, 2025. David’s weekly Treasure Trove column (including past columns) can be found at https://herzlcollection.com/treasure-trove. David’s regular #herzlbreak can be seen on Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook.